Mandatory Work Activity/Jobcentre Managers shareholdings in participating companies.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

It has been revealed that 24,010 jobseekers were referred to work for four weeks, for 30 hours a week, unpaid labour under the government's mandatory work activity (MWA)programme between May 2011 until November 2011.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/f...
Under the scheme jobcentre managers have the power to make unemployed people undertake the unpaid work for high-street chains including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Argos, Asda, Maplin, TK Maxx, Matalan, Primark, Holland & Barrett, Boots, McDonald's, Burger King, Poundland and the Arcadia group which includes Miss Sellfridge, Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins. BHS, Evans, Topman, Wallis and Outfit.

Could you please inform me what checks are currently in place to ensure that jobcentre managers, and their family members, are not share-holders in any of the private companies benefiting from this free labour scheme. As the companies would obviously be put in a position of boosting their profits, due to the exploitation of these claimants, what requirements exist for jobcentre managers and other jobcentre/DWP employees to declare this conflict of interest.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Taylor

DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request, Department for Work and Pensions

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Mr Taylor left an annotation ()

£17.5m of free labour supplied to private companies subsidised by tax payers:

24,010 referrals to a Mandatory Work Activity placement between May 2011 to November 2011
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/pw...

30 hours compulsory work per week for 4 weeks = 120 hours per referral

120 hours x 24,010 referrals = 2,881,200 hours

2,881,200 hours x £6.08 (minimum wage) = £17,517,696 of free labour supplied to private companies for this 3 month period

DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Taylor

Please see attached response to your FoI request

Kind regards

DWP Central FoI Team

-----Original Message-----
From: Mr Taylor [mailto:[FOI #106051 email]]
Sent: 15 February 2012 22:18
To: DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Mandatory Work
Activity/Jobcentre Managers shareholdings in participating companies.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

It has been revealed that 24,010 jobseekers were referred to work
for four weeks, for 30 hours a week, unpaid labour under the
government's mandatory work activity (MWA)programme between May
2011 until November 2011.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/f...
without-pay?newsfeed=true
Under the scheme jobcentre managers have the power to make
unemployed people undertake the unpaid work for high-street chains
including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Argos, Asda, Maplin, TK Maxx,
Matalan, Primark, Holland & Barrett, Boots, McDonald's, Burger
King, Poundland and the Arcadia group which includes Miss
Sellfridge, Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins. BHS, Evans, Topman,
Wallis and Outfit.

Could you please inform me what checks are currently in place to
ensure that jobcentre managers, and their family members, are not
share-holders in any of the private companies benefiting from this
free labour scheme. As the companies would obviously be put in a
position of boosting their profits, due to the exploitation of
these claimants, what requirements exist for jobcentre managers and
other jobcentre/DWP employees to declare this conflict of interest.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Taylor

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If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or other

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for Work and Pensions.

If you have received this transmission in error, please use the reply function to tell us

and then permanently delete what you have received.

This email was scanned for viruses by the Department for Work and Pensions' anti-virus services and on leaving the Department was found to be virus free.

Please note: Incoming and outgoing e-mail messages are routinely monitored for compliance

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